Linux and Public Access Computing?

An Anonymous Coward asks: "The Seattle Community Technology Alliance is a non profit, federally funded, public/private project that supports community technology centers in the Seattle area. We are interested in moving our public workstations from Win 2000 to Linux. In order to do this, we need good multi-lingual options and the abiltiy to create 'guest accounts' that prevent users from changing settings (to provide a consistent environment for users). What are the best tools for multi-user Linux labs? Should we use KDE? Gnome? How do we keep users from changing settings? We are eager to start experimenting, but would appreciate expert advice on starting points!"

Comments

First of all.

[TibbonZero]

Well, it seems that first of all you should really research Linux in general. I know that you are eager to get off of Win2K, but you should really make sure that everyone is well trained. Users too need to be trained, so that they aren't confused. You should read up on the permissions structure (and alternatives like Novell's E-Directory), and fully understand Linux before you go slapping it on everyone's boxes.
The reason I bring up this, is because from your question, it seems that you are new to Linux- in the fact that you don't know how to deny permissions, the differences between KDE and GNOME, guest accounts, etc.
So go get Linux, format your box, test it out!. Experienment, and try different Distros. I would sugest one without too much bloating, but that's my personaly opinion. You don't want people in the public to get a bad opinion of Linux because of messed up public Linux boxes.

Re:Can I ask why?

[TheConfusedOne]

I think the first issue is the cost of keeping those machines up to date.

The second is what the machines are supposed to be doing. If it's just surfing the web, emails, and basic word processing then you should be able to do this much cheaper than paying the annual MS tax.

A terminal server like setup would allow you to use cheaper boxes at the front. (Maybe you could put out 10 more boxes with the savings in hardware and software.)

Finally, it'll discourage the script kiddies. When Joe Jr. goes to logon and use his floppy disk with the latest priviledge elevating holes in Windows they'll be stuck at step one.

The best approach would be to figure out how to set up the new boxes and use them whenever you replace/rebuild a system. (You could probably create a pretty nice computer center with a server grade box and 10-20 PII class machines acting as terminals.)